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I've always found it ironic that Robert Ryan, our star of the month for February, made one of his earliest film appearances in a movie with Fred Astaire (1943's The Sky's the Limit) because the public personas of those two men couldn't have been more diverse. In films, Astaire was smooth, melodic, cultured and light-hearted; Ryan by contrast, was rugged, intense and brooding, with dark undercurrents seeming to run through his veins. Further, Astaire was a star who eventually became as familiar to us as an old friend; Ryan was always impenetrable, a man whose fascination lay in the fact that he was endlessly mysterious and masked. Yet look closer and these two men were actually very much alike: both had immense talent and both were exceedingly private. Further, each was the best and highly respected by fellow artists who knew the genuine article when they saw it. Have you ever seen Astaire in a bad or awkward moment on film? You won't find any with Ryan either. Unlike the fabulous Fred however, Robert R. never got his just desserts.
During his lifetime, there was never an AFI tribute or Kennedy Center honor, and no special Academy AwardŽ. Ryan received only one actual Academy AwardŽ nomination in his career, in 1947 as best supporting actor for Crossfire. (By coincidence, Astaire, too, was nominated but once and also in the supporting category, for 1974's The Towering Inferno.) This month on Turner Classic Movies we're going to be making up for some of the oversights on Mr. Ryan, at last, with a tribute which is, I believe, the first ever done on him. In between the movies, we'll also be telling you more about the man himself. He was, according to his chums, a man with no ego whatsoever, a rarity for any actor. He never attended a premiere in his life. He rarely gave an interview. For him, work was what it was all about. One friend says, "Bob was an old fashioned American who really belonged, not in Hollywood, but in a small town. He just happened to be a guy who loved being an actor." Married for 33 years, following the death of his wife he began a relationship with Maureen O'Sullivan, once Tarzan's favorite "Jane," but even that was something the public didn't hear about until after Ryan's death in 1973. He was as private as he was underrated. If you don't know Robert Ryan's work, this is the time and TCM is the place for an introduction. One warning, though: He very likely will become one of your favorite actors. Seeing him in action can be extremely addictive.
List of films
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